by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) Our community experienced a tragedy this week as someone with violent intent came onto one of our college campuses, Bridgewater College, with a gun. Two campus police officers lost their lives. I've been thinking a lot about how we talk with our children about violence and tragedies, and today I wanted to share some picture books that focus on love, teach about feelings, and promote empathy. Harris J's Salam Alaikum: A Messag

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we're discussing books for all levels that we believe would work really well for read aloud choices. We were thrilled to be joined by Holly Hicks, a third-grade teacher and Unabridged Ambassador who has experience choosing and sharing read-aloud picks with her third-grade students. We also share our own experiences with read-aloud picks both at home and in the classroom. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Kate Clayborn’s Love Lettering Jen - Marissa

by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse) With all of the tumult in our world right now, I'm thinking a lot about how we can encourage the young people in our lives to use their voices, to make wise choices, and to take action. Here are a few books for each age level that encourage young people to find their voices and to take action. Picture Books Chelsea Clinton's She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women who Changed History, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger - This i

In this Unabridged Podcast episode, we revisit a favorite game that we've played on past episodes, Book Riot's Lit Chat Game. After our Bookish Check-in, we dive into the game and answer some impromptu questions related to our reading lives, all while recording our responses. In this episode, we leave you with a favorite store for our Give Me One segment. Bookish Check-in Ashley - Jennifer De Leon’s Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From Jen - Helen Macdonald’s Vesper Flights Sara - Ibi

by Sara Voigt (@meaningfulmadness) As a mother to a daughter, I am really interested in finding books that promote strong females. Luckily, there are more and more books being published to meet just this need. Here are some of my (and my daughter's!) favorites: Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli From the publisher: "The New York Times bestselling Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a children's book p

While I (Ashley) value the opportunity in February to celebrate Black history, I never want that celebration to be reductive -- Black history, culture, and experience should never be reduced to a single month or painted with a broad brush. However, I didn't want to miss an opportunity to shout out some of our favorite picture books in our house -- these books are ones that my daughters love and that we read often. Particular favorites of my girls (ages 3 and 5) include Barack

Just getting started with Unabridged Podcast? Welcome! We're Ashley, Jen, and Sara, and we are teachers and podcasters who are passionate about books. We have four kinds of posts here on our blog. On Mondays, we post about our Bookish Faves, on Tuesdays we do Pub Day Shout-outs, on Wednesdays our episodes drop, and on Fridays, we post book reviews. (Be on the lookout on Thursdays, too; we sometimes have an extra post then!) There are many ways to connect with us! In addition

​ Back in January, we shared the books that we planned (or hoped?) to read this year. Now, it's time to share our progress. Have we read all of them? Nope. But we've made a valiant effort. (Or at least an effort.) What was on your TBR list for 2019? How are you doing? We'd love to hear about your successes and failures, the books you've loved and the ones that have disappointed you, over on social media. Check us out on Facebook and everywhere else @unabridgedpod. Books We've

​ In this Unabridged bonus episode, Ashley interviews Jess Balac from the Collins Center in Harrisonburg, VA, who works with local preschool and elementary school kids to teach sexuality education and to promote healthy attitudes toward bodies and relationships. Books Mentioned Robie Harris's It's NOT the Stork!: A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families, and Friends (for ages 4 and up) Robie Harris's It's So Amazing: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Fami

-Alternate Titles- That's on my list too! OR I want to read that! OR I was totally blown away. OR In general, not my strength. OR Those are nice books to dip in and out of. OR I watched Dawson's Creek. Religiously. OR There is something about hearing the book in the author's own voice. OR  Who's next? Our Anticipated Reads Jen - Helen Oyeyemi’s Gingerbread Dane Huckelbridge’s No Beast So Fierce Karen Thompson Walker’s The Dreamers Patrick Rothfuss’s Doors of Stone Rainbow Row

-Alternate Titles- Over and over and over and over OR We’re always making fun of him OR He has a ghost writer Works Mentioned in Episode Jen - 11-year-old Stuart Gibbs’s series, particularly Spy School books Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christopher Paolini’s Eragon ​8-year-old Jeff Smith’s Bone series Geronimo Stilton’s Kingdom of Fantasy series Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series Ashley - 2-year-old and 4-year-old Susan Verde and artist Peter H. Reynolds’s I Am P